Training Guidelines For 911 Telecommunicators FinalizedPress Release

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (June 09, 2016)—A group of 911 organizations jointly announced today during the annual National Emergency Number Association (NENA) trade show and conference that it finalized recommended minimum training guidelines for the nation’s 911 call-takers and dispatchers, culminating a three-year effort. The topics to be included in the recommended guidelines were identified by members of the following organizations, as well as other key stakeholders representing the 911 community, including:

"The effort was driven by the belief that it is vitally important Americans receive a consistent level of 911 service no matter where they live or travel," said Nathan Lee, president of the Denise Amber Lee Foundation. “Consequently, there must be agreed-upon common elements that ensure the person who answers a 911 call has met baseline core competencies,” Lee said. “We believe that the result of this effort will be that the public ultimately will receive a more consistent, effective and professional level of service from telecommunicators across the United States.”

While theNational 911 Program has facilitated the Project by providing a forum for discussion and development, the Guidelines are not federally owned or mandated—rather, they are the joint product of members of the Working Group listed above. (The Program is a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Transportation/National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration [NHTSA] Office of Emergency Medical Services, and the U.S. Department of Commerce/National Telecommunications and Information Administration [NTIA]).

The recommended minimum training guidelines cover the following topics:

Telecommunicator roles and responsibilities

911 call processing

Radio communications

Emergency management

Emergency communications technology

Legal concepts

Interpersonal communications

Stress management

Quality assurance

On-the-job training guidelines

In addition, numerous subtopics were identified for each topic listed above. It should be noted that the topics identified in the Guidelines provide minimum-level understanding. In order to field and manage emergency calls in a live environment, telecommunicators must receive supplemental training that will enable them to process the discipline-specific emergency calls that are fielded by their respective PSAP/911 Center or Emergency Services Provider.

The Guidelines were vetted by the 911 community at large, via the NENA Workspace platform, before they were finalized. All comments received were adjudicated by a subcommittee formed specifically for this purpose; the subcommittee was comprised of Working Group members who had volunteered for the task.

“The comments received were positive and supportive of the effort, and the result,” said Laurie Flaherty, program manager for the National 911 Program. “This is a watershed moment for the 911 community, and many people put their heart and soul into making this momentous event happen.”

A parallel goal of the Project was to develop Model Legislation for any state that does not currently have legislation concerning minimum training for telecommunicators. For those that do, the Model Legislation is intended as a baseline to ensure that the recommended minimum training topics are being covered.